Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/762

 DEISM

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DEISM

pel, he asserts with Blount, was only the fruit of a scheme on the part of the clergy to secure their own aggrandizement and enhance their power. With such professions it is difficult to reconcile his statement that he adheres to the doctrines and mysteries of re- ligion; but this becomes clear in the light of the fact that he shared the peculiar politico-religious view of Hobbes. Whatever the absolute power of the State sanctions is good; the opposite is bad. To oppose one's private religious convictions to the religion sanc- tioned by the State is of the nature of a revolutionary act. To accept the established state religion is the duty of the citizen. Shaftesbury's more important contributions to this literature are the "Characteris- tics" and the "Several Letters", mentioned above.

Antony Collins (1676-1729) caused a considerable stir by the pubhcation (171.3) of his "Discourse of Freethinking, occasioned by the Rise and Growth of a Sect call'd Freethinkers". He had previously con- ducted an argument against the immateriality and immortality of the soul and against human liberty. In this he had been answered by Dr. Samuel Clarke. The "Discourse" advocated unprejudiced and unfet- tered enquiry, asserted the right of human reason to examine and interpret revelation, and attempted to show the uncertainty of prophecy and of the New Testament record. In another work Collins puts forth an argument to prove the Christian religion false, though he does not expressly draw the conclu- sion indicated. He asserts that Christianity is de- pendent upon Judaism, and that its proof is the ful- filment of the prophetic utterances contained in the Old Testament. He then proceeds to point out that all such prophetic utterance is allegorical in nature and cannot be considered to furnish a real proof of the truth of its event. He further points out that the idea of the Messiah among the Jews was of recent growth before the time of Christ, and that the He- brews may have derived many of their theological ideas from their contact with other peoples, such as the Egyptians and Chaldeans. In particular, when his writings on prophecy were attacked, he did his ut- most to discredit the book of Daniel. The "Dis- course on the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion" (1724) called forth a great number of an- swers, principal among which were those of the Bishop of Lichfield, Dr. Chandler ("Defence of Christianity from the Prophecies of the Old Testament"), and Dr. Sherlock ("The Use and Intent of Prophecy"). It was in Collins' " Scheme of Literal Prophecy " that the antiquity and authority of the Book of Daniel were discussed. The "prophecies" were made to be a record of past and contemporary events rather than a prevision of the future. But the "Scheme" was weak, and though it was answered by more than one critic, it cannot be said to have added much weight to the "Discourse". Altogether Collins' attacks upon prophecy were considered to be of so serious a nature that they called forth no less than thirty-five replies. Of his works, the following may be noticed, as bearing especially upon the subject of deism: "Essay Con- cerning the LTse of Reason in Theology" (1"07); "Di.sco\irse of Freethinking" (1713); "Discourse on the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion" (1724) ; " The Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered" (1727).

Thomas Woolston (1669-1733) appeared as a mod- erator in the acrimonious controversy that was being w-aged between CoIHtis ami his critics with his "Mod- erator between an Infidel and an .-\postate". As Col- lins had succeeded in allegorizing the prophecies of the Old Testament luitil nothing remained of them, so Woolston tried to allegorize away the miracles of Christ. During the years 1728-9. six discourses on the miracles of Our Lord came out in three parts, in which Woolston asserted, with an extraordinary vio- lence of language and blasphemy that could only be

attributed to a madman, that the miracles of Christ, when taken in a Uteral and historical sense, are false, absurd, and fictitious. They must therefore, he urges, be received in a mystical and allegorical sense. In particular, he argued at great length against the mira- cles of resurrection from the dead wrought by Christ, and against the resurrection of Christ Himself. The Bishop of London issued five pastoral letters against him, and many ecclesiastics wrote in refutation of his work. The most noteworthy reply to his doctrines was " The Tryal of the Witnesses " (1729) by Dr. Sher- lock. In 1729-30, Woolston published " A Defense of his Discourse against the Bishops of London and St. David's", an extremely weak production.

Matthew Tindal (1657-1733) gave to the contro- versy the work that soon became kno'ivn as the " De- ists' Bible". His "Christianity as Old as the Crea- tion" was published in his extreme old age in 1730. As its sub-title indicates, its aim was to show that the Gospel is no more than a republication of the Law of Nature. This it undertakes to make plain by eviscer- ating the Christian religion of all that is not a mere statement of natural religion. External revelation is declared to be needless and useless, indeed impossible, and both the Old and New Testaments to be full of oppositioiLS and contradictions. The work was taken as a serious attack upon the traditional position of Christianity in England, as is evinced by the hostile criticism it at once provoked. The Bishop of London issued a pastoral; Waterland, Law, Conybeare, and others replied to it, Conybeare 's "Defence" creating a considerable stir at the time. More than any other work, "Christianity as Old as the Creation" was the occasion of the writing of Butler's well known " An- alogy".

Thomas Morgan (d. 1743) makes professions of Christianity, the usefulness of revelation, etc., but criticizes and at the same time rejects as revelational the Old Testament history, both as to its personages and its narratives of fact. He advances the theory that the Jews "accomodated" the truth, and even goes so far as to extend this "accomodation" to the Apostles and to Christ as well. His account of the origin of the Church is similar to that of Toland, in that he holds the two elements, Judaizing and liberal, to have resulted in a fusion. His principal work is "The Moral Philosojjher, a Dialogue between Phila- lethes, a Christian Deist, and Theophanes, a Christian Jew" (1737, 1739, 1740). This was answered by Dr. Chapman, whose reply called forth a defence on the part of Morgan in " The Moral Philosopher, or a farther Vindication of Moral Truth and Reason".

Thomas Chubb (1679-1746), a man of humble origin and of poor and elementary education, by trade a glove-maker and tallow-chandler, is the most plebeian representative of deism. In 1731 he published "A Discourse Concerning Reason" in which he disavows his intention of opposing revelation or serving the cause of infidelity. But "The True Gospel of Jesus Christ", in which Lechler sees "an essential moment in the historical development of Deism", announces Christianity as a life rather than as a collection of doc- trinal truths. The true gospel is that of natural relig- ion, and :is such Chubb treats it in his work. In his posthumous works a sceptical advance is made. These were published in 1748, and after the "Remarks on the Scriptures" contain the author's "Farewel to His Readers". This "Farewel" embraces a number of tracts on various religious subjects. A marked ten- dency to scepticism regarding a jiarticular providence pervades tlieni. The efficacy of prayer, as well as the future .state, is called in i|uestioii. .\rguments are urged against prophrcy and miracle. There are fifty pages devoted to those against the Resurrection alone. Finally, Cbrist is ]iresented .as a mere man, who fovmded a religious sect among the Jews. Chubb pub- lished also " The Supremacy of the Father" (1715) and